IOWA: Against the Anthills

Across the rolling plains of Iowa last week in a Chevrolet station wagon
cruised a trim, taut, fast-moving man with a bristling crew cut and a
businesslike air. His days were an 18-hour succession of Republican
breakfasts, Kiwanis Club luncheons, women's teas, greetings on Main
Street, conversations in corn fields and gasoline-station stops. The
gas stations were important. There he would shake hands with the man at
the pump, greet the mechanic, stride into the diner for a word with the
fry cook and a cup of coffee with the customers....